New Delhi:Â Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir is being heavily criticised on social media amid reports that pacer Harshit Rana is set to make his India debut in the 3rd Test against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
In a bid to avoid a whitewash in the three-match series, India have reportedly added Rana to their Test squad for the final 3rd Test match against the Kiwis in Mumbai.
Like Washington Sundar, Harshit is expected to walk straight away into the playing XI for the 3rd Test which gets underway on November 01. His inclusion in the squad is not a big surprise as the Delhi pacer was earlier part of India’s travelling reserves for the New Zealand series. He was released before the 2nd Test between India and New Zealand in Pune to play for Delhi in the ongoing Ranji Trophy.
Rana shone for Delhi with the ball and the bat in Delhi’s clash against Assam with a five-wicket haul and a half-century. He is now likely to make his India debut against New Zealand. However, the timing of his debut for the Indian team has sparked a massive uproar on social media with fans slamming Gambhir for ‘favouring’ his former IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
It is worth noting that Rana is likely to make his debut for India, a day after the IPL retention deadline which is October 31. Rana’s IPL team KKR can thus retain the pacer as an uncapped player for a sum of Rs 4 crore and won’t have to hurt their overall purse ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction next month. While teams can retain capped players under the top 3 brackets of Rs 18 crore, Rs 14 crore or Rs 11 crore, an uncapped player can be retained for Rs 4 crore only.
As per the rules set by BCCI, each team can retain a total of six players, either via direct retentions or via RTMs or a combination of both. Each team can retain a maximum of 5 capped or 2 uncapped players ahead of the mega auction. Rana making his India debut after the IPL retention deadline will help KKR massively as the 3-time champions can retain the pacer for Rs 4 crore as an uncapped player, saving at least Rs 7 crore from their purse.
Soon after reports of Rana making his India debut, a day after the IPL 2025 retention deadline went viral on social media, India head coach Gambhir was targeted by many. The former KKR mentor was accused of being biased towards his former franchise and deliberately delaying his India debut to ensure he can be retained as an uncapped player by KKR.
Gautam Gambhir gets slammed amid reports of Harshit Rana’s India debut:
The curious case of Harshit Rana
Rana earned his maiden India call-up immediately after the conclusion of IPL 2024 where he played a key role in KKR’s title triumph with 19 wickets in 13 matches. He was selected for India’s T20I series against Zimbabwe and the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. However, the pacer was kept waiting on the bench and didn’t play a single game.
Rana was then selected in India’s squad for the T20I series against Bangladesh but once again was not picked in the playing XI. He was expected to play in the 3rd T20I against Bangladesh after India had gained a 2-0 unassailable lead against the visitors. However, BCCI revealed that Rana suffered a ‘viral fever’ on match day and hence didn’t feature in the XI.
Despite being in India’s squad for as many as three series, Rana failing to make his debut has left the fans wondering if Gambhir intentionally delayed his maiden India cap to ensure KKR could retain him uncapped. While it remains to be seen if KKR will actually keep hold of Rana as an uncapped player ahead of the auction, the recent developments had certain put Gambhir’s role in the entire saga under the scanner.